Another Pilot Down: The Artwork of George Gonzalez

Saturday, March 29, 2014

LIN-g077: Shotguns

Background Information:
Probably the most ambitious and experimental of the entire series. One of the main themes I wanted to keep true in #CrutchGuns was to really minimize the number of foreign objects that aren't of wooden and aluminum crutch materials. Aside from the obvious paint job, the crutch guns need should mainly stick to just crutch parts. These two guns however, do incorporate a lot of various different parts otherwise not associated with crutches.

MY BABY BLUE
This was probably the 5th crutch gun to have been created. It was also the first to break away from the wooden crutches we had been using, and instead we incorporated pieces of aluminum crutches from a failed art project I did a few years ago.

..and boy did it work out in our favor! Admittedly, I was a little turned off by having to paint over aluminum due to the fact that I have had problems in the past with paint constantly chipping off or getting scratched. However, I had no problems this time around. The spring for the forearm was also an added bonus my father thought of. Originally when I first penned the idea to have a grippable forearm in the magazine tube, I wanted something that was going to move back-and-forth. The inclusion of the spring instead was much better and a lot more fun for people to use. At first I was a little hesitant of the spring, but ultimately my friends and classmates didn't seem to mind it all one bit.

GREY/YELLOW (DOUBLE BARREL)
I have to say, my dad really took control over this model. The design evolved right in his hands. The idea for a double barrel shotgun was always in the works, but his execution couldn't have been better. There were several different designs we tried for the gun's chamber all of which were failing us. After a few attempts and keeping it wooden we decided to go for steel instead.

I must admit I was very hesitant to even keep going with this design because it truly departed away from the original concept. Nevertheless, in the end I am very pleased with the weapon. The added shotgun shell ends at the crack, totally give it a more realistic feel to it. Alas, this design really makes the LIN-g077 shotguns so unique and further perpetuates this series towards the many possibilities it can do.

Additional Information:
- The name LIN-g077 is named after my father Lingo and the seventy-even stems from his “favorite year.”
- “My Baby Blue” takes the name from the Badfinger song, “Baby Blue.”
- The double barrel shotgun color scheme is actually inspired by favorite superhero, Batman.. which is odd considering the characters' aversion to guns.
- Despite the various steel hinges, metal spring, and bolts, this isn't the set that has the most foreign objects in each gun. That record actually belongs to the Chameleon Uzi's.